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User blog:Thantosiet/Mermaid Powers: A Review
As of right now, Mermaid Powers, by the channel of the same name, has posted the fifth episode of its second season. As far as I can gather (meaning the birthday episode), the actresses are around six years old, making them the youngest mermaids I’ve ever seen. The Plot A girl named Emily discovers a necklace in her backyard, and decides to keep it. Naturally, she is transformed into a mermaid. Her friend, Emma, comes over and discovers the secret, but is cool with it and agrees to help keep things secret. Her other friend, Layla, they’re not so sure about, and as time goes on, with the girls celebrating birthdays and going to talent shows, they have an argument about it, but agree not to, and test out Emily’s newfound heating powers. Layla finds out anyway, and reacts badly—leaving without giving Emily a chance to explain, though at least she doesn’t run to scientists. That Halloween, a strange boy tracks down Emily and informs her that he’s a vampire. However, rather than wanting to suck her blood, he offers her a wish, which she uses to wish that Layla didn’t know she was a mermaid. In the very next episode she reveals her secret to Layla deliberately, and she reacts much better. The girls have a few episodes to relax before a mysterious, black-clad stranger appears in Emily’s backyard. When she goes out to investigate, the stranger starts a power battle and wins. The Characters They’re all very little girls, which means they’re a) adorable and b) not the greatest at memorizing lines. Fortunately factor A usually means factor B can be forgiven. Early on it can be a little hard to tell who’s who, since the characters’ names and personalities are very similar and they look close enough to be sisters. Special mention goes to the vampire (who did a good enough job considering he was a little bitty guy) and the stranger in black. The show is pretty good at mysterious baddies, at least while they’re being mysterious. Technicals This show likes its montages. Really, really likes its montages, especially ones of some combination of Emily, Emma and Layla hanging out together. It’s nice that we get some music behind these sequences, even if they seem like filler; most shows wouldn’t bother, and the songs come in and out pretty smoothly. Thanks to weather issues Emily hasn’t swum in her (homemade) tail yet, but plans to. My thanks to the steady hand and keen eye behind the camera. You, sir or madam, know how to set up a shot. The effects aren’t very special until the latest episode, when we get BIG EXPLOSIONS OUT OF NOWHERE! MP 2.png|Awesome. Best Moment “Power On,” Season 2, Episode 5 So, Emily goes out to the pond in the back of her house, when she notices a stranger in black, shielding his or her face, wandering around. Naturally this is a little weird considering this is probably private property. Emily, showing a courage that few little girls her age would (granted most little girls her age don’t have fire powers), confronts the stranger, asking who they are and what they’re doing. The stranger responds with ‘splosions. They throw their powers at each other a couple of times, and Emily gets knocked down—and possibly out, since the screen fades to black. Then the stranger leaves. MP 1.png This scene is put together very well. Dialogue tends to be repetitive in this show; hardly anyone speaks. The effects are suddenly very good. The music, not normally present except in montages, is tense and fits perfectly. The stranger is a genuine mystery; I can’t even tell whether that’s a man or a woman under the hood. MP 3.png|You can't see it, but the stranger's wearing knee-length pants and sandals. Not what I'd have gone with, but whatever. Best of all, this character heralds the arrival of a new plot, one that isn’t going to be resolved in a single episode. Now that we’ve gotten the friendship/exposure story out of the way, let’s get serious. Relatively speaking. Worst Moment “A Whole Day of Magic,” Season 1, Episode 5 I have decided not to fault the show for any of the things it probably can’t help—acting, effects, dialogue and so on. Those may not be perfect, but they do their job and they’re entertaining. If I were to target the plot, it would be Emily apparently wasting her wish by immediately telling Layla her secret, but I can justify that. She wanted to reveal the secret on her own terms, not have it come out when she’s not prepared. So, naturally, I’m going to choose the only episode that barely has any of the girls in it. Emma and Emily get dressed (in a montage, how else?) and head to their church’s talent show. Not to participate, to watch. MP 4.png|Who are these people? Not explained. MP 5.png|Is she related to one of the girls, or...? We spend the rest of the episode—four and a half of the five minutes that aren’t theme song or ending credits—watching teenagers we’ve never seen or heard of before sing. The room’s echo and noise from the audience makes it hard to tell what they’re actually singing. Then we have a quick, inexplicably upside-down shot of the girls cheering, and bam, we’re home. MP 6.png|One weird hiccup in the otherwise consistently good camera work. When I tune in, I want to see you guys, not strangers. I’ve got no reason to be interested in the talent show—there aren’t even any winners or losers. Man, another talent show. This isn't going to turn into a trend, is it? Crazy Fan Theories The stranger in black is the mermaid whose necklace Emily found, and she (?) wants it back. Maybe Emily’s “unworthy” because she keeps revealing her secret or something like that. The vampire wasn’t a vampire, he was a genie dressed up as a vampire for Halloween who really got into his role. After all, he didn’t do anything remotely vampire-like. So, How’s It Hold Up? D’awww. If you like watching little girls play mermaids, you’ll enjoy this show. If you’re looking for a tight plot or well-developed characters, you should probably look elsewhere. However, compared to most mermaid shows it’s quite good. The lack of swimming is understandable and normal, the effects are very nice, and the pacing is pretty rapid. The one thing that bothers me a little is the privacy issue that comes with posting videos of such little girls on the internet. They seem to have help from older people, so that makes me feel better about their safety in doing this. Personally, I think it might be a good idea to screen the comments section, just because some mean, foul-mouthed person will come along sooner or later. YouTube can be like that. Category:Blog posts Category:Reviews